With many students at MSMS applying to several colleges, the application process can be very stressful, confusing and time consuming. Luckily, Common Application is a tool that has the potential to make the process of college admissions easier.

In any given year, thousands of students use the Common Application to help them apply to college. The Common Application works as a central application where your personal information and college application essays can be completed and then sent out to the colleges of your choice. The benefit of this is that it saves students from filling out the same information repeatedly for several different application processes by giving them the option to fill it out once. Many students at MSMS are turning toward the Common Application for this very reason.

Rhet Hailey is one such student. “I think Common App will help me apply for colleges. It’s pretty easy and the benefits of doing it are pretty good in my opinion,” he said.

The benefit of saving time and energy seems to be the main attractive force for the common application. The semesters as an MSMS student can be very busy without the pressure to apply for colleges.

“It makes it easier to breathe since I’m saving time by cutting out a lot of duplicated forms in lots of applications,” added Hailey.

Although the Common Application is especially useful for students who plan on applying to many colleges, it is not accepted at all universities and colleges. Though the number of accepting colleges has been rising every year, many require an alternative way to apply.

As a counselor, Dr. Heath Stevens helps many students apply through college both with and without the Common Application.

“I think that the Common App is a very useful tool to apply to a lot of colleges in an efficient manner.” Stevens said. But he also warned that many of the schools that MSMS students may apply to may not accept the common application.

“There are only two schools in Mississippi on the Common App now, Millsaps College, which has been on there for years, and this year is the first year that Southern Miss is on there. MSU and Ole Miss are not on the Common App,” he said.

One thing remains clear: there is a lot of work ahead for the class of 2016 to apply for college.